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Out of the Frying Pan
Out of the Frying Pan Act I Welcome to the Tournament! Let the Pre-Lims begin! "So, hear about that new team that showed up?" Within a large city near the edge of the country's coastline, there was a massive tournament ring, nearly the size of what one would consider a major league football stadium. It was full of people, onlookers and potential participants, as well as it's own fair share of gamblers and betting hopefuls. Two of which were casually walking down one of the various hallways that would give them access to the various seats within the stadium. "I think they call themselves "The Revolutionaries" or something like that." one of them continued, wearing a standard business suit, having spiked hair and wearing a pair of sunglasses. "Heard that they're composed of some pretty strong fighters." "No kidding?" Wearing a sports T-shirt with a jacket overlapping it, a similar aged man smiled widely as he recalled aloud, "I hear that Rao is the leader of the Team! You know, the strongest man on Earth next to the World Champion, Jesse Cox!" "Yeah, I heard that too." the spikey haired one replied, glancing over at his companion briefly as they spoke. "If he is on the team, then God help whoever is going up against them. I doubt even the current World Champ would be able to stand up against the likes of ole' Rao. It's gonna be one hell of a tournament, either way." "I heard that a team called the Demon Fist is also in the Tournament. This big guy named Taigen is the leader, and the only contestant besides himself is a kid named Mugen," a nearby woman to the suit-donned gentleman's left spoke aloud, raising a hand up with a scrutinizing look, "they look like tough customers. I don't care how strong the World Champ or this Rao's team is, it looks like they could take them all down singlehandedly!" While these three individuals spoke about their hopes and bets, a little ways from them was a young man with forward swept hair, brown shirt, white short sleeved coat, and blue jeans along with red tennis shoes. He was resting his left elbow on his left knee, holding his head up as he looked down at the crowd and arena below him, and then back to the three onlookers. "Well, people still won't stop talking about Taigen's bunch. Looks like our team is still going to be under a load of pressure." he spoke to the person next to him, who he was affiliated with in some way. "Considering how big that guy is, I can only assume he's worth a whole team in comparison to the kid next to him," A jersey donned blonde jock, named Sam, leaned back in his chair proximately to Marcus', as he pointed at the roster board with the team's name on it, "that Tai-fella probably thinks he can take care of all the opponents, and just let his disciple or student or...son, whoever join for the kicks of it. They also happen to have a lot of backing to win the Tournament, in comparison to you guys', who do this crazy stuff for sport." A platinum silver haired girl sitting next to Sam's right, sighed as she rolled her eyes, flicking her silky bangs behind her ear, "I don't see how the big muscular guys think they can win these Tournaments. Most of the time, its usually the little guys that win these events, not the other way around." A raven haired, black-lipstick girl with a black jacket and jean shorts chuckled, as she looked over at her female friend and her jock boyfriend, "Tell that to Jesse Cox. Not only is he dead drop handsome, but he's won every Tournament for the past five consecutive years. He's an actor, and was formerly one of the One World Army's super soldiers at one point. Trust me, that guy is anything but small," whipping her hair back, she batted her eyes at Marcus flirtatiously while grinning a winning, pearly white smile, "don't you think so, Marcus?" Marcus sighed, initially glancing back at the woman and her flirty gesture, before turning his attention back to the arena. "Call me biased, but I think he's pretty overrated myself. Actors can do that often, make themselves seem bigger than they really are." He then leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head as he did so. "I'll bet if Cox went up against a real fighter, like Rao, he'd shit his pants and run to the other end of the city." Before any of the three casual friends could answer, a daunting and charismatic voice of the Tournament announcer himself called out to the crowd, "HELLOOOOOOOO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! ARE YOU READY TO RUUUUUUUUUUUUUMBLE?!" The crowd responded, along with Marcus' three friends, crying out while standing up to their feet, before sitting back down. "THAT IS GREAT! BECAUSE OF THE FACT WE HAVE OVER FIFTY CONTESTANTS SIGNED UP, OUR ONE AND ONLY GRAND CHAMPION OF THE WORLDS MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT WILL BE STARTING OFF THE MEASURED RATE OF ENTRY! AND NOW, GIVE IT UP FOR, JEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEE COOOOOOOOOOX!" Another thunderous roar echoed from the crowd, as any digital screens placed up for the audience's convienance showed a blonde, sleek shade-wearing man of large muscular stature. Smiling at the cameras, he took off his golden-violet edged Champion coat to reveal his bare, rippling torso in all of its glory, as well as the Champion belt wrapped securely around his waistline. Stepping up a number of stairs before the contestants on a pedestal, a large punching board with colorful reticles that oscillated on standby, before turning green in readiness of being struck. After waving to the cameras, Jesse settled himself into a fighting stance. Rearing back his fist, his body glowed a pure white-blue aura of energy, as he prepared to deliver a powerful punch. Smiling to himself, he knew he shouldn't use full power yet, better to show the audience a few new tricks he's been saving for an event like this. "HOO-WAAA!" Jesse shouted out, as he swung a right hook punch into the center of the target board, causing it to light up a dozen colors, and send a reverberating shockwave across the platform. A number counter read out above showing a defined count of Jesse's score: 350lbs of kinetic force. "OUTSTANDING! OUR WORLD CHAMPION HAS SET THE TONE FOR A MINIMUM OF THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS OF PRESSURE TO COMPETE!" The announcer spoke with jubiliation and awe, as he always did when the champion was around. Jesse smiled at the contenders, making a pair of mock finger guns, before "firing" them off at the lot of them as he walked down and put his luscious Champion coat back on, "I'll see the next thirteen of you on the stage! Laterz!" "...yep." Marcus said as he watched the initial display, and further as Jesse began to leave the arena. "He's a real douchebag, that one. Still, I gotta admit, that was a pretty impressive display...if it isn't rigged, of course." As he watched, he particularly peered down at the contestants stand, looking as if he were searching for someone specific. "Huh...I don't see her there yet. Don't tell me she's late again..." After a brief scowl fired off by the raven haired girl, Jessica, the latter comment caught her immediate curiosity, "Who's late? Don't tell me you actually got a date all of a sudden!" "Nah, that's not it, I bet its that girl on his team. I think her name is Julie!" The silver haired girl, Chelsea, raised a hand up, acting like she knew whom it was exactly that Marcus was referring to. During the idle banter, nearly ten contestants walked up, and delivered impressive punches of their own. While none of them reached above 300lbs of force, they were all authentically powerful and delivered with precision, and purpose. Then, a short-cropped black haired girl walked towards the stage. Donned in black-white camo slacks with army boots adorned around her lithe feet, a pink t-shirt overlapped by a sleeveless muscle shirt showed her as a very much tomboy. With spikey black bangs following a long braided ponytail, the girl in question took to the stage. "Here we go." Marcus then smirked, leaning forward as he saw Jane enter the arena. "Looks like she made it right on time, and still just raring to go as always." However, as he looked through the contestants, he noticed that all of the other contestants looked as if they were just as tough, if not tougher than Jesse himself. "I hope she came with her A-game in mind." Jane dug her heels in, and the three friends next to Marcus watched on with sincere interest. What was this small girl going to do what these grown men couldn't? "Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu," Her voice crawled out in a distinctly controlled hum, as her body began to glow a distinct transparent white aura. As she settled into a fighting stance, her body began to glow brighter and brighter, until the entire platform shook with trembling at the sheer density of her Ki projeciton. Then, narrowing her eyes, she took a step forward and threw her fist forward. "HA!!!" KRAK-''KOOM!'' A powerful, earth-trembling punch was delivered, with enough intensity that it created a momentary flash of electricity from the friction of her fingerless gloved hand meeting the board, blazing around the platform. Likewise, the colors emitted from the target board absorbed the energy and turned it into a series of black and white flickering formations to exude, before the energy was safely dispelled underground. Jane's reading came out as 750lbs of force. "S-S-SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS OF FORCE! I DON'T BELIEVE IT FOLKS, BUT THE READINGS ARE NOT TAMPERED IN ANY WAY! JANE PROCEEDS AS LEADER OF THE SCOREBOARD WITH SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS AS THE HIGHEST SCORE, AND JESSE COX'S THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS OF PRESSURE BEING THE LOWEST!" The announcer read out with both enthusiasm and trepidation. "Oh yeaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Jane smiled toothily, pumping her fist in the air, before giving out a victory sign towards the familiar signature that was Marcus, "watch me fight, Marcus! I'm going to win this thing!" Not being the type to yell out towards the stage, as much of a quiet guy that he was, Marcus simply smiled and raised up his hand, forming his fingers into an 'ok' symbol, as he knew she'd be able to see him, or at least feel the gesture. "Still just as good as ever it seems." he said to himself quietly. When Jane had stepped off of the stage, however, his attention was turned towards the next contestant who entered. He was a fairly tall man with a unique set of violet and black clothing, but his most interesting feature was the white mask on his face, concealing all of his head, and having three holes on it's front; two where the eyes were, and another at the top center of it. On his back was a large steel gunbai, the hilt of which was attached to a black chain that connected to his right wrist. Standing in front of the punching bag, the man readied a fighting stance, reared his palm back, and remained still for at least thirty seconds, and then, he thrust his palm out into the bag, creating what seemed to be a casual hit, but when the readings would show up... ...he had hit the back with 750 lbs of force as well. "S-SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS OF PRESSURE AS WELL! MONSOON TIES WITH JANE, AS THE TOP PRESSURE YIELD, WITH JESSE DEAD LAST!" "W-What's going on?!" Jessica's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, as her body shook with fear and confusion, "they're all...so much stronger...than my Jesse baby!" "That girl hit the thing as hard as that masked freak!" Sam spoke aloud with an aghast tone, with Chelsea broken into utter silence. The next contestant that walked up, pushed past several fleeing contestants, all terrified of entering the ring with monsters like them. Walking up with a much more composed stance, the man in question only wore a pair of purple sleeveless shirt, a pair of beige cargo pants, and a pair of black tennis shoes. Rearing back a single orange gloved fist as he walked forward, he thrust it out, releasing a concussive burst of wind to ripple across the atmosphere. While not as flashy as Jane's demonstration, or as subtle as Monsoon, the man's affects brought him up to a bare five pounds underneath the total score. "SEVEN HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE POUNDS OF PRESSURE! KENJA KODAI ADVANCES AS THIRD HIGHEST SCORE!" "..." Kenja barely batted an eyelash, already walking off the stage while chewing on a toothpick, allowing the next still standing contestant to walk up. "I wonder..." the man in the suit, seen earlier, came and sat in the seat next to Marcus. His casual tone implied tha the two knew each other in some way. "...who the guy with the white hair? I don't think i've seen him before." "Hey to you too, Creig." Marcus replied in an annoyed tone, obviously irked that his friend didn't greet him properly. "And I think he's Kenja Kodai; a real hardass when it comes to fighting one on one. I remember hearing a rumor that he derailed an entire train with a single punch." "I could tell, though, that other masked guy, Monsoon, I think he's called, looks pretty brooding too." The man identified as Crieg said in response, crossing his arms as he spoke. "They say he lifted at least a dozen cars into the air with just his mind. We've got some real freak shows in this tournament." Crieg then looked over at Marcus, raising an eyebrow. "You think Jane can match up to em'?" Marcus initially didn't respond, more in thought than anything else. But after a few seconds, he sighed and answered honestly. "Well, to be honest, she's still a little fresh in terms of these big tournaments, but she's got a spirit unlike any other fighter you'll see here. I think she'll do awesome." "Let's hope so." Creig said in response, popping his neck into place. "Because we got some pretty big guns coming out, right about now..." Rao, known to be the strongest warrior of mankind, stepped to the platform with his weighted robes wrapped firmly around his body. Taking a few steps, forward, he raised his hand up and gave it a backhanding gesture, causing the entire machine to spasm before flowing with lights. The meter up above read a distinct reading of 751lbs. "RAO MOVES ON WITH AN EVEN HIGHER COUNT OF SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY ONE POUNDS OF FORCE!" "Hmph," Rao closed all three of his eyes as he walked off stage, feeling the numbers of waiting contestants diminsh to an utter fraction of what it used to be. "Ho-ly shit." Creig lowered his glasses to see the results of Rao's punch. "Just one pound above Jane and Monsoon's results? Either he wasn't trying right then...or Jane's really caught up to him." he looked over to Marcus. "How long have they been training together, exactly?" "A few years, not sure exactly how many though." Marcus replied, stroking his chin in thought. "But however long it might have been...Jane sure hasn't come unprepared." Here comes the Badass, Mugen's Dynamic Debut! Mugen appeared to be an ordinary teenager. His body was lean and smooth, not what one would assume to be a hardened warrior or trained martial artist. He had combed black hair, with matching onyx eyes and a fair complexion. His attire consisted of a pair of dark green wrist bands, tabi socks and kung fu shoes, with a pair of yellow t-shirt and green martial art slacks. As he faced his upcoming opponent, a wry smirk of confidence projected from his face, as he regarded his newfound enemy with sarcasm, "Who are you supposed to be? The Girl Scout Terror?" Round 1 Begin, The Secret Behind the Mask and the Flames of Youth! It wasn't long until all had passed, and a total of thirty two contestants were lined up for the extended three day Tournament. With the crowds seated within the semi-circle rectangular aligned stadium, a good football sized of grass divided between the audience and the massive square shaped ring. Made of culmination of stone, plaster, and smooth polished surfacing, it made the perfect fighting grounds for intense martial arts competitions. And within the first round's lineup, a big digital screen cycled the names of all the contestants on a black board, with the golden highlighted words VS in between the two slits of random sliding words. It wasn't long, as one name slid down at the same time as the other: Jane vs Monsoon "LAAAAAAAAAAAADIES AND GENTLEMAN! THE FIRST MATCH IS ABOUT TO BE UNDERWAY AND BOY DOES IT LOOK LIKE A EARLY POWERHOUSE THROWDOWN!" The announcer began to speak charismatically and enthusiastically, as Jane forward flipped onto the arena's edge, before placing her hands on her hips with a smile on her face, "ON THIS CORNER, WE HAVE JANE! SHE IS SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD AND A DISCIPLE OF THE STRONGEST MARTIAL ARTIST ALIVE, SECOND ONLY TO JESSE COX, RAO! HAVING DELIVERED AN AMAZING SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS OF FORCE ON THE PRE-LIMINATION MATCH, WE CAN ONLY EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM THIS YOUNG LADY!" When he had finished, the masked man known as Monsoon stepped onto the stage calmly, and walked towards the center of the stage until he was only a few meters from his younger opponent. Without a word, the man quickly slammed his right fist into his open left palm, holding it there in place as he respectfully bowed to Jane, and then standing back up fully with his arms at his sides, ready for the announcer to introduce him to the crowd. As Jane bowed back respectfully, while casting a suspicious gaze at the man's weird attire and eerily dark appearance, the announcer chimed in, "FACING THIS BEAUTIFUL GODDESS OF FISTS IS NONE OTHER THAN MONSOON! NOTHING IS KNOWN ABOUT THE MASKED FIGHTER, OR IF HIS REAL NAME IS MONSOON, BUT ONE THING IS CLEAR! HE CAME HERE TO FIGHT, AND A FIGHT YOU SHALL HAVE! ARE YOU ALL READY TO RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMBLE?!" As the crowd stood up from their seats to give a roaring affirmation, Jane had a brief pause to really regard the man, and say her fill before fists began to fly. With a smirk, she nodded to the fan, "I wonder how they let you in, carrying in a weapon on an arena ground in a martial arts Tournament. If you think you can fool me, I'm onto you, masked man!" The masked man, known as Monsoon, did not speak in response. Slowly and calmly, he readied himself into a peaceful, and perfectly balanced fighting stance, showing that he was here to truly fight Jane, and not simply talk with her. "WITH BOTH OPPONENTS ON THE FLOOR, LET THE FIRST MATCH OF THE FIRST ROUND...BEGIN!!!" With that, Jane burst into action. With deft speed, Jane lunged forth towards Monsoon, swinging a flurry of punches up front to test the man's defensive capabilities. Within the wake of such fast-paced punches, she would swing an elbow and a knee strike occasionally, to break up the possibility of being predicted by her opponent. Her masked opponent responded in kind. Using high speeds of his own, his extended palm thrusts not only managed to block and evade Jane's attacks, but he was able to sneak a few of his own attacks in his flurry as well. Neither of the two were moving in terms of location, managing to stay perfectly within their places as they exchanged blows, and therefore proving a high level of focus on both of their parts. Finally, Monsoon managed to catch an opening within Jane's attacks, as she raised a leg to kick him, her other leg was stationary on the ground, which allowed him to duck, perform a sweep kick manouver and possibly trip her, in where he would follow up with a higher roundhouse kick that would send her skidding down the arena. Feeling her leg fall out from under her, she knew the more experienced martial artist would follow up the moment her back would hit the ground. Jane gritted her teeth, as she instinctively turned her body in a ninety degree turn, using her left hand to prop her body weight before twisting it to her lefthand side. This caused the roundhouse kicking leg of monsoon's to graze the back of her shirt, but not strike her forthwith. With a smile, she looped her right arm around his opponent's calf, effectively grappling it. Jettisoning a burst of Ki from her left palm, she propelled herself up into the air a mere two meters, before twisting her body around to throw Monsoon headfirst towards the arena floor, as she would backflip onto the arena flooring, awaiting to see the results of her quick thinking and timely counter. It was a smart move on Jane's part, but this was simply the beginning of the fight. As he came towards the ground, he extended both hands out towards the oncoming arena floor, and caught himself before he could cause serious damage to this incredibly hard surface. As Jane landed, he propelled his feet towards her now still standing form, aiming to deliver and especially powerful double force kick to her midsection. The moment she saw Monsoon launch himself for a double kick towards her, she rushed forward. It seemed bold, even irrational, but it would become clear as she reached the 8/10th mark to zero impact. Bending her back swiftly so her head was narily touched the arena floor, she bent her legs down and slid underneath the kick, passing directly underneath Monsoon's flying form. As he would pass her, she would swivel her two arms out and smashed her hands like hammers towards his exposed kidneys, before grappling onto the cloth material, and ramming her forehead up towards his chest with impressive force. However, her first strike simply helped him deliver his next attack. The attack she used would hit him, but her strikes would seemingly hit solid metal, and slamming her forhead into his chest would have the same effect. The impact allowed him to kick his foot into her stomach and propel himself away from her. After performing a series of backflips, the man popped his neck into place, waiting for Jane's next move. "Ngh?!" Jane grimaced with confusion and pain. The kick didn't nearly hurt as much as the clashes she took against the supposedly wooden fan and his body. She suspected foul play immediately, and righted herself to her feet immediately. "What the Hell are you trying to pull?!" She shouted at Monsoon, pointing at him accusatorily, "no weighted armor is that dense, and martial art weapons are forbidden!" Monsoon didn't verbally reply at first, and simply held up his right arm for her to see. "Not armor...but rather...myself." His purple sleeve came down, revealing a humanoid shaped and designed arm, but it was solid metal and silver in shade. Throughout it's form were black lines that went around it, and his hand was black in color. Before anyone could process this revelation, the man's form became covered in a violet colored aura, and his arm split into three pieces from the lines that were seen earlier, all cybernetic, and all connected by violet elecricity. With lightning speeds, he thrust the arm out at Jane with a powerful and brief punch to her rib-cage, packing enough force to send her out of the arena bounds. "Cybernetic Augmentations?!" Jane barely thought before the arm discharged like a rocket and punched her square in the chest, causing her to skid across the arena floor and above the out of bounds grass. Moments before she hit past the twenty yard line, she ignited her energy aura timely enough to halt herself, cracking and indenting the earth beneath her. "OH DEAR! I-I-IT SEEMS MONSOON HAS BEEN MODIFIED ALL ALONG! MONSOON IS DISQUALIFIED-" "Wait!" Jane shouted, strengthening her vocal chords with her Ki, so that she could tell the authorities before they could escort Monsoon from the fight. Soaring back to the arena, she smiled as she settled into a fighting stance once more, "I'm not done fighting yet! In fact, this makes it perfect! Please give Monsoon permission to keep fighting! I want to prove that I'm better than he thinks I am!" After a brief series of murmurs from the audience, the announcer went silent, apparently talking to the referees. Within a few long minutes, Jane fixated her eyes at the metal arm that retracted back to the joint, realizing that some flesh remained on his body, if any. She recognized wounds like that being from battle, possibly from one of the great wars of the not too distant past. If he's a veteran, she knew he came with the intentions of just fighting with everyone else. She wanted to honor him that desire. "AFTER SOME CAREFUL CONSIDERATION, WE WILL CONDONE THIS ACT OF UNEXPLAINED MODS BEFORE REGISTRATION DUE TO THIS BEING THE FIRST MATCH AND THE DESIRE BY THE OTHER OPPONENT TO FIGHT REGARDLESS! THE SHOW WILL GO ON!" The crowd roared in excitement, having already enjoyed the fair share of blows shown by both fighters, and only momentarily perplexed by the weird arm trick. Now that it was pardoned, Jane can continue to fight! "HRAH!" Jane proclaimed with a Kiai, as her body became enveloped with an intense burst of transparent silver light, making her hair flourish up wildly along with the edges of her clothes. Maximizing her strength to full potential, she wanted to see how far she could go with the restrictions she placed upon her. After all, she wanted to save the best tricks for at the Tournament, regardless of how big of an event this fight could be. "You ready now, Monsoon?" Jane asked, as she felt her aura brim brightly around herself, as she prepared for what she felt was the real battle between the two of them. The arm was retracted back into place on Monsoon's form, whirring with deep electric noises as it did so, and locked firmly into it's original joint. Knowing now that the girl had realized his true intentions all along, he nodded to her quietly, his own form brimming with the same violet aura as before, and readied his original fighting stance once again. Now, it was time to fight for real. WHIZ-WHAM! Moving within a spare dash of super-speed, Jane appeared just above Monsoon. Already in mid-flip, she executed a double arcing axe kick down upon the exposed part of his head. Knowing his limbs and body were mostly metallic in nature, she knew to apply more force to the skull, aiming to vibrate his brain through his hard head in order to induce unconsciousness. Lifting both of his arms up, Monsoon blocked the attacks, the force of which caused the ground beneath him to crack from the sheer amount of pressure that she was exerting. Grunting, the man then slung his arms out to his sides, exerting an electric pulse of energy in the process that would send her into the air, followed by two extended punches from his cybernetic arms out towards her as she flew into the sky. Allowing the momentum to carry herself up into the air, the moment she saw the cybernetic arms extend towards her, she ignited her aura and flew faster away from the offending mechanical limbs. Once they reached their limit, Jane smiled, and made her move. With a fluid bodily deployed Kiai, she halted her ascent, and moved back forward, grasping the wrists of the extended wrists and locked them into a vice tight grip. "COME UP HEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!~" Jane shouted as she heaved mightily, pulling Monsoon all the way from the arena's platform up into the air. All the while, she jettisoned her body down back to the arena floor, crashing onto it with the wrists still firmly in her grasp, grappling Monsoon back down towards the arena once he reached the tallest height his arms would allow, "NOW GET DOWN HEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!~" With that, the man would disappear in the cloud of dust that resulted from his crash. After a minute or so, he rose back up to his feet. His attire was scarred slightly, but he didn't appear to be terribly faltered by the attack, as demonstrated by how his foot step broke through the solid plate underneath him that made up the arena floor. He then lunged for Jane, unleashing an onslaught of powerful kicks, punches, and elbow stirkes upon her person. Jane parried and exchanged blows, bringing forth the full measure of her energy to make her body as durable as her opponent's. The strength of her blows would cause cracks within the atmosphere, blasting away the dented and cracked arena ring, as she felt a few of the metal laced fists come into contact with her jaw, chest and abdomen, while she thrust all of her strikes towards the key points on his body. "This bites!" She thought as she traded blows with Monsoon, "even if I bring up my energy to its maximum, its not enough to completely demolish this guy's defenses. He's built to withsthand forces much stronger than he can project. If that's the case...guess I'll need to kick up another notch!" As she thought that, she ducked under one punch, raised her left leg to block a kick, and batted away another punch. Crouching down, on all fours, her body would suddenly disappear within thin air. "KAIO-KEN!" WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!! Within a sudden ignition of crimson light, Jane reappeared directly in front of Monsoon, thrusting the culmination of all of her energy into her right fist, doubling the power she had, and pouring it forth towards the sternum area of Monsoon's armored chest. The sheer force unleashed ignited the surface of the arena in flames, as tiles flew upwards against the g-forces of her punch's momentum, as her own body was basked within a crimson flare that flourished around her like a bountiful geyser. This sent Monsoon careening backwards, directly past the bounds of the arena, and into the wall just below the audience stands. Without a word, however, the entity managed to emerge from his position and jump back onto the arena floor. His entire form bristled with a light magenta aura. Then, suddenley, all of his robotic limbs began to split apart from each other's sections, connected only by strands of violet electricity. Standing taller than a large house, the entity was now fighting Jane at his absolute best, shown more when he reared his left fist back, and delivered a mightly punch upon here that would blow a massive hole in the ground when making contact. "Back for more, huh?" Jane commented off-handedly as she saw Monsoon come back, expanding his being to be much larger and harnessed by much more energy from its core. When it punched, her crimson aura flared back up, as her left hand reached out and grasped the fist. Her hair stood up from the force of her own aura as the ground distended from the force of the punch and her own Ki, "I'm sorry to say...that this fight is already over, Monsoon!" Wrenching the enormous fist to the side with her left hand, she let go of the knuckles to grapple its wrist, and pull him forward. Within a second, she unleashed a dozen air disrupting punches, with crimson flashes exuding every thunderous impact her fist made upon his shell, "Take a hint and stay down!" The attack was all that was needed to cause Monsoon to fall. The sheer force of her attacks hitting him at such speeds caused his core to malfunction. The seperated limbs all fell to the ground, including his detached head, which fell lifelessly to the ground. Monsoon was all but defeated, but was he dead? The lack of movement from any of his limbs seemed to suggest as much. As the scarlet aura of Kaioken left her, Jane bent down and grasped Monsoon by his collar, lifting him up to eye level, "Don't go playing possum on me, Metal Man! Accept your defeat with dignity, or else I'll have to ask someone to carry you out on a stretcher!" The only response Jane would recieve is the man's head detaching from it's torso, showing robotic implants on both parts of the body. But the head didn't move after it fell. The only thing Jane would hear is a slow and steady heartbeat within the torso, a heartbeat that was getting slower and slower. "Ah Hell!" Jane swore as she dropped the man's torso on the arena floor, and shouted towards the announcer, "I need a medic over here! This man's systems are drained, and he needs power and help, stat!" The response was almost immediate. Within a matter of seconds, a rectangular-shaped hovercraft flew over to the devestated arena and lowered onto the arena floor. They dropped out of their craft and quickly went to stabilize Monsoon, plugging in power chords into accessible entry ports on his torso, while they busied themselves re-clasping other parts of his limbs together, clicking like jigsaw pieces on a puzzle. "Alright...his vitals look stable! We'll take him to the ER room and see if we can get this man back to consciousness!" The lead medic responded to Jane. "Thank you," Jane sighed with relief, placing her right hand on her chest. "This tech looks like life support system intermingled with augmentations for war veterans. This guy shouldn't have come into a Tournament. Too much stress and he would've worn out his heart this way," One of the other medics chided with disapproval. "It seemed like he wanted this more than anything," Jane murmured, her eyes drawing to the man's head. "Well, his desires might kill him. I can't promise he'll live long after a stunt like this, but I can promise that he won't be doing any heavy lifting for awhile, augments or no," the Lead Medic spoke once again, as they hauled his body onto the stretcher portion of the craft. "WAIT!!!" A fairly middle aged man with a light grey beard, bald head and large glasses while in a white, scientists uniform came running out from one of the doors leading to the arena. He stopped the medics dead in their tracks before hastily looking over the robotic man's remains. "Argh! Damnit damnit damnit damnit!!! How the hell did this happen?! I turn my back for one minute, and you've already run out the door to take part in this idiotic savagry?! Gah!" One of the medics attempted to calm the man down. "Whoa whoa whoa there old-timer. What's your deal here?" "Listen here, idiot!" the scientist shouted, pointing his finger in the man's face. "That.... ''thing ''is an old war veteran who was too stupid to realize that throwing yourself on top of a grenade is NOT good for your health! No idea why he did it, of course. Said it was for his fellow troopers or some worthless nonsense. ''I ''found him, reconstructed him, gave him a new life and opportunity to do great things, and he sneaks out to come fight in a meritless tournament! Wanting to die with dignity my ass! Idiots! Idiots everywhere!" The man then took the detached head of Monsoon and kicked it out into the field. "Take the stupid thing and throw it in the dump for all I care!" he shouted, before angrily beginning to stomp away. The "creator" wouldn't get far. A split second the head was kicked, Jane moved in a blur to catch it, slinging it under her arm protectively. The next, she shimmered in front of the scientist, and swung her small hand up to grapple him by the collar, allowing it to constrict his bulbous neck. She glared at him with righteous ire, as her teeth bared at him as she spoke, "You have the gall to MARCH into a Tournament, a place where martial artists demonstrate the pride and skill they possess of themselves as people and get to test themselves in front of thousands of people without invitation. Then, you throw a trantrum like a child about a man who wanted to have a valiant and honorable battle in a Tournament, NOT because he had advanced mechancis, but because his heart was more alive and beautiful than some asshole like you could be! I should wring your neck for making such an embarassing scene, and DARING to lay a FINGER on this proud warrior's body!" The scientist's original, hateful attitude became one of fear as the girl grabbed his collar. "A-Alright alright! I won't touch him again. You can have him or fix him up, whatever! Just don't do anything drastic..." "GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS STADIUM! IGNORE ME, AND I'LL KICK YOUR ASS INTO ORBIT! CAPICHE, OLD MAN?!" Jane yelled, comically growing large enough to tower over his trembling stature like a skyscraper. "AAAAAAAAAAGH~!!!!!" the man screamed in response, his feet moving so fast away from the arena that it left a large trail of dust in it's wake, soon he was completely gone out of sight... leaving the dismembered Monsoon in peace. "Tch, wrinkled old ass's as cowardly as they come," Jane huffed as she turned on her heels, tossing the head back to the head doctor, "please make sure the head is reattached properly this time. Wouldn't want him not feeling his everything when he wakes up, wouldn't we?" "Y-Yes," the Head doctor spoke with a shiver running up his spine, quickly reattaching Monsoon's head back onto the rest of his body, "there, he's stable! Get him to the ER room at once! Move!" "Right!" The other two assistants nodded, rushing him off with the floating ER hover board, leaving the rest of the audience and competitors where they were. A long minute passed by, and the announcer finally had the nerve to speak up, "DUE TO INCAPACITATION OF PARTICIPANT MONSOON, JANE IS THE WINNER OF THE MATCH, MOVING HER ONTO THE SECOND ROUND!" A deafening roar would be heard from the audience, glad to be rid of the needless drama and witness the rest of the Tournament itself. Jane floated up casually back to her Team's area, huffing a few stray bangs away from her brow as she landed next to Rao with her arms crossed. "Glad you didn't pummel the old coot," Rao muttered with a wry grin, not looking at Jane as he looked towards the area where Monsoon and the said scientist exited, "it'd look bad if I was teaching rebellious, violent kids." "Cause your school's reputation has been the most upstanding, hasn't it?" Jane muttered with contorted lips as she looked to her right side. "What was that?" Rao asked bemusingly, raising his right and top brows upwards with a knowing emphasized stare. "Nothing!" Jane grunted out with a belated sigh. "That's what I thought," Rao chuckled. "Piss off," Jane growled lowly. "Nice show." Marcus said in a nonchalant manner as he came down the steps. "I personally would have liked to have seen him get his head pushed down his neck, but eh, that's a hope for another time I guess." he said as he came to sit next to Rao. "That's not the way you deal with things. Even if people deserve to suffer or feel pain, as punishment, we're not people who can use that authority when fueled by indignated anger or suffering. Otherwise, that justice is impure, setting a bad example for others," Rao answered, inclining his head towards Jane, "for what it is worth, Jane handled herself impressively well in the face of such blatant hostility." "Well yeah, there's that. But c'mon Jane, I know you wanted to knock the douchebag on his ass. Would you have?" Marcus continued. "Collar bones shattered, femurs snapped, severe concussion, internal bleeding, pried toe and finger nails, teeth punched out," Jane muttered lowly, all the while her crossed hands gripped her upper arms tightly. Her gaze shifted over to Marcus with a wrathful glare as she bared her teeth at him seriously, "if he hadn't taken my advice to run, that would've been the result of his injuries I'd leave him with. Think that's soft or too much, Marcus?" "Eyup, that sounds about right." Marcus said as he pulled out a flier from inside his shirt. "But it's a good thing you've got some badass restraints. If you pummeled a scientist straggler out there we'd all get disqualified." He then started turning pages in the flier. "Hm... looks like Taigen's team is up next, going up against some new contestant I haven't heard of. I'll bet the first one they'll throw out is ole' Mugen..." "It's the team of one, if I recall. I think Taigen thinks he's on equal footing with you, Jane," Rao suggested with a nod, as a boy in a sleevless yellow shirt and a pair of blue slacks with tabi slippers walked up and vaulted in a forward flip onto the arena floor. "Tch, as if he could take me," Jane retorted as she watched the boy walk up with nonchalant aura about him, his hands firmly pocketed in his pants. "He sure doesn't look nervous." Marcus commented, glancing down at where Mugen was while also looking at the flier's data section where Mugen was listed. "... yeah, the databook here says that, based on his previous stats from other tournaments, he's close to your ranking, Jane. I'd be careful what you say about him." Mugen appeared to be an ordinary teenager. His body was lean and smooth, not what one would assume to be a hardened warrior or trained martial artist. He had combed black hair, with matching onyx eyes and a fair complexion. His attire consisted of a pair of dark green wrist bands, tabi socks and kung fu shoes, with a pair of yellow t-shirt and green martial art slacks. As he faced his upcoming opponent, a wry smirk of confidence projected from his face, as he regarded his newfound enemy with sarcasm, "Who are you supposed to be? The Girl Scout Terror?"